A pair of carryovers on Friday afternoon start the racing week in Southern California, as well as bring added excitement to the start of Pegasus Weekend at Gulfstream Park. A $19,498 carryover in the Sunset Six and $95,704 in the Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 have me champing at the bit with the massive day to follow on Saturday. Here are my thoughts on the Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 sequence, which for those who forget, has a $1 minimum, 15% takeout, and is for retail players only.

Grade Descriptions: Grade A=Highest degree of confidence; Grade B=Solid Play. Grade C=Least preferred or pass; Grade X=probable winner but likely at odds too short to play.

Gulfstream Race 9:
Grade: B
Main Ticket: 5 Su Win
Backups: 1 Clay Soldier

Forecast: The Coast-to-Coast gets started with this first-level allowance at 5-furlongs over the Gulfstream sod where I like the chances of #5 Su Win. The Santa Cruz Ranch homebred wired out a field over the all-weather on debut at odds of 22-1 before showing the pace and tiring in her first start against winners less than a month later. Trainer Juan Rizo opted to cut the Win Win Win filly back to a sprint on October 24 and it led to another upset victory, this time at 26-1. Despite the public’s lack of excitement about this gal through three starts, I think she can run and very well could be at her best going one-turn. I will lean heavily on her and include the far more experienced #1 Clay Solider as a backup.


Santa Anita Race 3:
Grade: B-
Main Ticket: 3 Miss Donna
Backups: None

Forecast: I will take a stand in the first of three races at the Great Race Place included within the Friday Coast-to-Coast sequence with #3 Miss Donna. The Rushie filly competed in turf sprints against maiden special weight company during her three starts as a 2YO and for the most part ran evenly in all three efforts suggesting added ground is likely to benefit her. The Jim Daniell homebred is likely be involved early with a favorable inside draw under jockey Kazushi Kamura and should have plenty left late to beat this modest group of $50k maiden claimers going 8-furlongs.


Gulfstream Race 10:
Grade: C
Main Ticket: 4 Triumphant Road; 1 Maktub; 6 Realtor; 2 Wineman Trax; 3 Secret Bagent Man
Backups: None

Forecast: I lack a strong opinion in this $8k claimer for non-winners of three at 1 1/16-miles over the Gulfstream all-weather. Unfortunately, I am also unwilling to take a stand against 5-2-ML favorite #1 Maktub or 7-2-second choice #6 Realtor making this my least favorite race within the sequence. If you can go thin here, especially against the public choices, I would advise, but I will make my hay elsewhere on Friday afternoon. That said, I am okay with getting lucky and catching lukewarm top choice #4 Triumphant Return or 30-1-long shot #2 Wineman Trax. They both have legitimate chances if the pace is contentious.


Santa Anita Race 5:
Grade: B-
Main Ticket: 1 Vlahos; 2 Nesso’s Lastharrah
Backups: 4 Son of a Birch

Forecast: I will take a stand against ML favorite #5 Speed Boat Beach though in this high-level allowance event over Santa Anita Park’s beautiful Hillside Turf Course. The son of Bayern has a Grade 1 victory under his belt, but was not the same horse in 2025. Plus, while I know he won 2 of 3 on the lawn as a 2YO, it is hard to make the case it is a positive seeing Hall of Famer Bob Baffert send this guy back to the grass. Instead, it feels more hopeful after three off the board finishes over the main track a year ago. #1 Vlahos has also probably seen better days, but tossing Doug O’Neill horses has been a dangerous game of late. The veteran conditioner is 8 for 36 with a $3.82 ROI over the last 20 days at Santa Anita Park. I will use the Kantharos ridgling, as well as the lone true turf sprinter in the field #2 Nesso’s Lastharrah. #4 Son of a Birch makes sense as well, but I will include just as a backup.


Santa Anita Race 7:
Grade: B-
Main Ticket: 4 Libel Proof; 5 Memetic
Backups: 2 Passalubong; 7 My Love Caroline

Forecast: The sequence concludes with a state-bred first-level allowance at 6-furlongs over the main track where once again I will try to separate from the public by besting the probable favorite. #6 My Kat is listed at 5-2 on the move back to the main track for George Papaprodromou, which is understandable since he crossed the wire first in back-to-back dirt races before his turf start on January 9. The issue I have is he has not been the same horse at Santa Anita Park as he has at Del Mar thus far. Plus, I am not sure he has proven to be significantly faster than his rivals that are almost certain to offer more value in the final leg of the sequence. I like #4 Libel Proof moving back to the dirt and #5 Memetic returning quickly off of maiden claiming victory most, but will include a pair of others in hopes of closing this out without the top choice.

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